Job's - Current Situation

[gbb]

What's this working from home malarkey all about? Manufacturing happens at our factory and that's where I've been working solidly from June/July 2020. I only had 3 months lockdown

You lucky bugger
I never had a single day of lockdown, furlough, working from home, nothing, diddly squat.

 

[I like Skol]

You lucky bugger
I never had a single day of lockdown, furlough, working from home, nothing, diddly squat.

You really think so?

I also worked through as normal and I think the routine amid the chaos/disruption to life that isolating and home schooling brought helped my sanity and that of the people who would have had to put up with me

We were the lucky ones.

 

[Deleted User]

You really think so?

We were the lucky ones.

Absolutely, also gives a different view of the Virus in general I think.

Stuck at home worried about going out and not seeing anyone compared to working and mixing.

 

[gbb]

Here in the states, pundits have been wagging about The Great Resignation for a couple of years now. They've blamed it on everything - emergency Covid checks, over-generous unemployment benefits, lack of affordable child care, "kids these days", fear of the disease, caring for parents, just about everything you could think of.

Recently I read of one more reason that makes a lot of sense to me - families here are going back to having only one earner for quality-of-life reasons, meaning our labor shortages may be structural, and not temporary.

It may a part of a larger perfect storm of various negative aspects of modern life that beginning to push people to drastic, self interested decisions.
At 63 im working harder than iever did. My company has reduced and reduced staff, increased and increased workload for 10 years, i often say, i can JUST about do my job, but i cant do any of it well, theres just too much to do, not enough time to do it. Wages were strangled for 10 years,its only this last year our company was forced to retain its engineers with a fair payrise, my first in about 6 years.
I tell my 92 yo mum, you wouldnt believe how busy life is now, the pace is non stop,she just wouldnt recognise modern working life.

As i begin to contemplete retirement, i was going to work on a while. Now i think 'sod that', i have had enough, i will probably work for an agency, £300 a day, my employers are currently paying £500 a shift for desperately needed skilled cover. Work 2 or 3 days a week, job done, im done busting a gut. I just hope it will still be there when i retire, i genuinely enjoy my core job, its just all the caarp that spoils it all,

 

[DRM]

I think you’ve accurately described many peoples working lives in many engineering/service engineer roles, treated like scum, but they’re the ones that bring the money in.

 

[Fab Foodie]

What's this working from home malarkey all about? Manufacturing happens at our factory and that's where I've been working solidly from June/July 2020. I only had 3 months lockdown

Some of us had not one day of lockdown....

 

[dan_bo]

Some of us had not one day of lockdown....

Nope. Pulled me conkers off all the way through. Blokes in similar positions to me got furloughed and were pulling their hair out.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Nope. Pulled me conkers off all the way through. Blokes in similar positions to me got furloughed and were pulling their hair out.

I'd have been happy as Larry with a bit of furlough....

 

[gbb]

Another example of how folk are beginning to pick and choose, and have the confidence to do so given the
circumstances out there.
Our factory,4 years old, really good (but well used) amenities, clean, temperature controlled, currently with maybe 500 workers packing fruit and flowers (in seperate parts of the factory.
Sister factory 14 miles away, brand new, packing fruit, excellent amenities,a few hundred workers i guess.
Theyve just opened an overspill factory 20 miles away, old buildings, cold, not so well lit, poorer amenities..agency staff yesterday arrived, a good proportion wouldnt get off and wanted to work at our factory

They were 70 workers short for that shift, we are always struggling on nightshifts, key workers are more and more shuttling between factories, covid drives some of that but shortage of skills and manpower is the main driver.

During peaks (valentines day,mothers day,easter etc) the tea/coffee vending machines are set to free. There's often a free pot noodle type food given out, we currently have 'keep fit Febuary' going, 10 minutes music and excercise, everything stops, most seem to really enjoy it, its a distraction from the mundane i guess. There have been financial incentives to get people to work special holidays etc (the Romanians had some sort of thing late last year, the company had to pay to keep as many at work as possible)

Its staggered, phased incentives, it stops and starts as demands dictate, but its a damn sight more than they used to do. Needs must.

 

[Alex321]

You really think so?

I also worked through as normal and I think the routine amid the chaos/disruption to life that isolating and home schooling brought helped my sanity and that of the people who would have had to put up with me

We were the lucky ones.

Well I worked right through, but the vast majority of it from home, and I think I was very lucky.

Not just a job which is practical to do from home, but working for a company which was very proactive about it - they called us all in on the Thursday 10 days before the official lockdown started and said "From tomorrow, we recommend you all work from home. Take your laptops home, and we'll see you in the summer". Next time I physically saw my boss (end of June 2021) he said "Didn't say which summer"

But it helps that I also have a study at home which is a specific room, where I am out of the way - though even so, my wife was quite pleased when I said I would be starting to go in to the office 2 days a week.

 

[fossyant]

Absolutely, also gives a different view of the Virus in general I think.

Stuck at home worried about going out and not seeing anyone compared to working and mixing.

Some of us were stuck at home working, not worrying. Been hard work TBH and quite isolating. Thank god I don't have little kids anymore (just two big ones).

 

[gbb]

I think you’ve accurately described many peoples working lives in many engineering/service engineer roles, treated like scum, but they’re the ones that bring the money in.

In my former employers, a tight knit family company that demanded much but rewarded extremelywell, i remember saying to the financial director 'i'm just the engineer' (cant remember the circumstances but i was infering my role in the company was relatively minor compared to some others).
Dont you undersell yourself, he immediately replied, without you, this place doesnt run, you are one of the most important guys on the shop floor.
Rewarded well, very well...inevitably it went under, it couldnt compete with the modern ethic, cut cut cut costs, wages, lean everything,cut the heart out of everything. They were hard years working for that company but infintely more rewarding, the company had soul.

 

[Slick]

Some at work only got 3 days, others 2 weeks then some with a month possibly 2. I came back part time initially at one day a week. The job I had been given was impossible to do like that not least because I kept getting further jobs to do. So I got put back on full time.

unofficially I had worked a little at home straight through. The company had a transition audit to a new version of the standard plus the annual quality audit. All remotely. I had to go in on audit day. Of course being in a SME that's more on the S side, I didn't have remote access to the server. So I had to snesk into work for a few hours every week when supposedly on furlough. Tbh it was a relief to be back in as then I got paid for my work officially. I wonder if there were many companies breaking the rules over furlough workers! Needs must I suppose. Lose all business by sticking to the rules or "be flexible" with the rules and keeping things going.

I guess there's even more risks to be addressed by our business management systems in these covid times. Remote access to server for all with office based access might be wise. Not many could do it at ourworkplace. Possibly one person for certain.

Still, people going on about not wanting to leave the WFH days behind does kind of grate at times.

I think we all had a tough time one way or another, no matter our individual circumstances. There was almost 160 staff and learners in our building and for over 6 months, I rattled about it on my own, mostly feeding the birds.

I have to be honest and admit, I did feel lucky as I'm not sure I could cope with nothing to do and all day to do it but as we struggled through another year of constant issues, part of me was hoping for another winter lockdown Christmas past, as I think I just became physically and mentally fatigued. I have pretty much got over it, but not entirely so if I'm honest, there was no perfect role during lockdown, we all got through it and hopefully this will be everyones year this year.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Absolutely, also gives a different view of the Virus in general I think.

Stuck at home worried about going out and not seeing anyone compared to working and mixing.

This is why I didn't have a lockdown: our clients needed the routine.

I know of at least two who could have had a very high suicide risk if we'd not kept going.

I was very fortunate really as it made a big difference to the family finances.

 

[gbb]

This is why I didn't have a lockdown: our clients needed the routine.

I know of at least two who could have had a very high suicide risk if we'd not kept going.

I was very fortunate really as it made a big difference to the family finances.

Unless you (people in general) have direct experience or knowledge of an individuals state of mental health, you'd never know the inner turmoil some people faced with lockdown.
One of my wife's former colleagues succumbed very early in lockdown 1. Youd never know he was that troubled, he was the life and soul, always had a smile on his face, always up there for fun.
But it sometimes hides an inner turmoil, some people just can't face loneliness, can't deal with their inner demons I guess. It shocked everyone to the core .